[SOLVED] is it worth getting K version of CPU's if I won't OC?

[Osaidaz]

Hi.
will be getting i7 10700, don't know if I should go for K version, not planning to overclock ever.
thanks.

 

[ChumP]

Well, technically yes. Even if you're not OCing the I7-10700k boosts higher(5.1 GHz) compared to the I7-10700(4.8 GHz).

I would get the K version simply because there's the possibility to squeeze even more performance by overclocking (you might consider it in the future).

 

[Karadjgne]

The K versions often have similar, sometimes even lower prices than non-K, just because of competition pricing. The K normally have higher boosts. The K don't just overclock, but when paired on a Z board offer the full range of settings to adjust the cpu where the non-K don't. The K versions almost always carry a higher resale value due to demand.

Unless there's a solid reason, like 3rd Party bios incompatibility (Dell, Lenovo, HP etc) it's usually overall beneficial to go with a K.

10700k : $394, 10700 : $318. $76 difference.
4790k : $150, 4790 : $61. $89 difference.

You'll get the difference back, $± on resale, but get to have the benefits during ownership for overall difference of $0 ±.

 

[Endre]

Hi.
will be getting i7 10700, don't know if I should go for K version, not planning to overclock ever.
thanks.

Yes, going for the “K” version is a good idea, because even if you don’t overclock it, it will still boost higher than a non “K” CPU.

 

[digitalgriffin]

The K versions often have similar, sometimes even lower prices than non-K, just because of competition pricing. The K normally have higher boosts. The K don't just overclock, but when paired on a Z board offer the full range of settings to adjust the cpu where the non-K don't. The K versions almost always carry a higher resale value due to demand.

Unless there's a solid reason, like 3rd Party bios incompatibility (Dell, Lenovo, HP etc) it's usually overall beneficial to go with a K.

10700k : $394, 10700 : $318. $76 difference.
4790k : $150, 4790 : $61. $89 difference.

You'll get the difference back, $± on resale, but get to have the benefits during ownership for overall difference of $0 ±.

You have to add in the cost of a decent cooler. K chips don't come with a cooler. Throw in at least another $40-$50 for that. I would say a hyper 212 would cover it if you aren't overclocking, but not with any of the last 3 gens and intel pushing voltages and clocks so high to squeeze more performance on 14nm

 

[hotaru.hino]

Not only does the K version has a higher boost, it also has a higher base frequency (2.8GHz on the non-K vs 3.8 of the K version). So if you do extended multithreaded workloads, the K version will be faster. The lower TDP rating of the non-K version also means it may perform thermal/power management more aggressively.

However, like anything else with parts, try to do as much research to see how much this affects you. The last Intel processor I had was an i7-6700. For pretty much everything I did, it performed within spitting distance of the i7-6700K without overclocking.